Life in the Pack
by ZeoliteTrash
Summary: Kakashi and Sakura have been close friends ever since the war but a relationship was never on the table. However when Sakura has a near death experience she realises what and who she can't live without.
1. Chapter 1

Kakashi thought that she looked so peaceful lying there with Bisuke and Ūhei curled around her protectively. Her pink locks swirled around her face and over her arms, which were brought up beside her head, as she laid on her side. She had let her hair grow since he last saw her.

As Kakashi stepped into the room clutching his side tenderly he made sure to avoid the other ninken littering the floor around the bed. He had sent the dogs to go live with Sakura while he was away on his diplomatic mission, they always preferred her company while he was gone and he knew that Sakura would care for them far better than Naruto. At least she gave the boys the correct food and not just ramen. If Kakashi was perfectly honest it had got to the point where he basically shared the dogs with the pink haired ninja anyway. They often visited Sakura of their own accord as they knew they would be supplied with belly rubs and treats.

"Boss. You're back." A gruff voice from behind Kakashi had him whirling around mid-step over Bull.

Pakkun had appeared in the door way, water dripping from his mouth. He had obviously gone to get a drink from the bowl Sakura always had in her kitchen for the dogs. Kakashi didn't say anything just simply nodded and watched as the small pug trotted between the other dogs over to Sakura's bed only to leap up onto it. Pukkun climbed over Ūhei and settled in the space next to Sakura's stomach. The small dog gave a final look at the silver haired man then closed his eyes and let his head rest on the bed. In doing so the water from his mouth transferred onto the crisp cream sheets darkening them.

"I don't think Sakura would be happy with you drooling on her bed." Kakashi said with a sigh.

Pakkun opened a lazy eye at the man and sniffed the air. "I don't think Sakura would be happy with you bleeding all over her bedroom floor."

Kakashi looked down to his right side and pulled his hand slowly away from his waist. Blood marred his pale hand and continued to seep slowly from the deep wound. The jounin sighed again. "I suppose you are right."

Kakashi then continued his journey over Bull towards Sakura. Seeing his friend make his way over to the bed Pakkun got up and padded towards the pinkette's head he then nudged her cheek gently with his small slightly damp nose. "Little lady… little lady wake up. You have a visitor. Looks like he got himself hurt again."

Sakura moved slightly and started to wake, pulling her arms up above her head to stretch. With all the movement in the room the other ninken started to return to conciseness. Upon realising that Kakashi was home he recived several lazy tail wags, to which he smiled in return.

By the time Kakashi had made it to the edge of the low bed Sakura had half sat up and was looking at the man with bleary and confused eyes from behind the pink hair that had fallen into her face.

"-Kashi?" Sakura spoke quietly as she rubbed a fist over her eyes. "You're back?"

"Looks like I am." Kakashi replied with a smirk under his mask. "By the way I thought I taught you how to be a good ninja. I snuck all the way into your bedroom without you waking up."

Sakura woke up a bit more. She moved to sit up fully, the sheets falling away to show a plain white strappy top pulling snuggly across her taught stomach.

"Oh please you barely taught me anything. You were a rather rubbish sensei." Sakura returned a smirk towards him, as she said this she pulled back the sheet that covered her pale legs. Pulling herself forward, Sakura sat beside Kakashi on the edge of her bed.

"Ouch, you are going to hurt my ego if you keep talking like that." Kakashi had long come to terms with the fact that he really hadn't taught much to the young woman. But while his teachings may have lacked it meant that she had flourished under Lady Tsunade's tutelage. The medical side of the fifth Hokage's teachings was one of the reasons why he was here now in Sakura's apartment. The pain in his side was becoming harder to ignore.

"Looks like you are already hurt oh great lord Hokage." Sakura stood from the bed and took her place standing in front of the injured man.

Kakashi exhaled sharply out of his nose in acknowledgment and peered up at her from under his shaggy silver hair. With his head band off, the unruly mess fell much more easily into his eyes. The silver haired ninja parted his legs slightly to allow the woman to get closer to him as she crouched down so that she was eye level with the bleeding wound.

"What was it this time?" Sakura sighed as she gently peeled the standard issue navy blue jumper away from Kakashi's torso. Helping him, Sakura removed the top completely which caused a groan from Kakashi as he raised his arms above his head. Sakura handed the blood stained clothing to Guruko who dutifully took it through to Sakura's small kitchen. Crouching again Sakura pulled Kakashi's tight under shirt just high enough to expose the wound. She then allowed her hand to glow green as she pressed it gently against Kakashi's injured side. "You are lucky there is only slight tearing to your small intestines. Nothing I can't patch up. But seriously how did you do this? Any chance of it being poisoned?" Sakura looked up at the man expectantly.

This is how Kakashi liked to see Sakura. Completely in the zone, she was born to be a medic. Well once she had gotten over her violent temper but even that still reared its head occasionally. As Kakashi stared into those deep pooling green eyes he realised how far she had come. He truly was proud of her, everything she had achieved was won with complete dedication and hard work. It was the reason he came straight to her if he was injured he knew she could deal with it no matter what. He also couldn't deny himself the feeling of her chakra.

Over the years Kakashi of the Sharingan had obtained many injuries and many different people had attended those injuries. Some peoples chakra felt scratchy as it entered his body, some felt like he was being tickled from the inside and some, mainly Tsunade's, felt like the chakra was taking over.

But not Sakura's, hers was everything he wanted when he was hurt. It was comforting, familiar and felt like home. Kakashi couldn't deny it, she was an incredibly large portion of his life. The rest of Team 7 was as well, but she had wormed her way into his heart far more than the boys. If he was honest he didn't notice it at first, maybe because he had his nose buried too deep in his books, but one day he opened his eyes and realised that out of all the thousands of people that lived in the Leaf Village she had become his closest friend. He still didn't really know how. He supposed it was somewhere in-between the impromptu lunches, which were held anywhere except for Ichiraku ramen, and the pink haired ninja breaking into his apartment just to drop off some food shopping so he ate correctly.

"Kakashi, are you going to answer me or are you just going to sit there and stare at me?" Pulling Kakashi out of his thoughts Sakura smirked up at him whist continuing to pump chakra into his side. Had he been staring? He hadn't meant to, though he couldn't dispute that it was a good view. Her tight white top clung to her chest and the small red shorts framed her hips giving him a clear look as her curves. Just because she was his friend and ex-pupil did not mean he couldn't appreciate how gorgeous she was. He wasn't anything if he wasn't a pervert at heart.

"Sorry was I staring. I must be going senile." Kakashi shrugged slightly hoping that she wouldn't be offended at his prolonged inspection of her.

Sakura snorted lightly as she chuckled. "I feel like you have been going senile for a while now. I mean you were constantly getting 'lost on the path of life' maybe it is more serious than we thought." The medic slowly pulled her hand away from where Kakashi's wound once was and laughed lightly as she inspected her handy work. "While I may have already healed it, I would still like to know how you managed to gain a hole in your side." Sakura placed a hand on each of the older man's knee and pushed so she could stand. She half glared down at him.

"Make me some green tea and I'll tell you, an old man needs his tea." Kakashi pouted up at his companion hoping to gain some sympathy.

The woman only rolled her eyes and laughed. "Fine, but you really aren't that old. I hope I am not classed as old when I am 37." The pinkette held out a hand to the veteran ninja, when he took it she pulled lightly to get him to stand. "Come on. I'll make tea." The young woman turned and padded out of the room, expertly skipping over Bull who stubbornly remained blocking the doorway.

Kakashi couldn't help but follow her with his eyes, transfixed by her svelte form.

Pakkun jumped down from his place on the bed and sat next to Kakashi's right foot.

"Boss you really aren't very subtle." The pug huffed out of his nose and shook his head.

Kakashi refused to look at the pug but replied none the less. "I have no idea what you are talking about." Was his response.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that." Pakkun stood on his miniature legs and trotted out of the room towards the glow of light coming from the kitchen.

Kakashi ran a hand through his unruly hair he then brought the same hand down to poke at his newly healed flesh. It was still slightly pink in appearance but other than that there was really no way of knowing that he had been bleeding from it profusely only minutes ago.

Having no shirt to replace the one Guruko took to the kitchen Kakashi pulled his undershirt back down over his torso and walked out of the dog infested bedroom.

When the male jounin entered the kitchen he saw Sakura with her back to him stretching up reaching for the dog treats she kept in the top cupboard. Two of his dogs, Shiba and Akino, were by her feet wagging their tails in anticipation. Seeing his dogs like this with Sakura it was sometimes hard to remember that they were all highly trained ninja dogs who would kill in the blink of an eye. The pinkette turned back around with treats in hand, when she saw Kakashi looking and she smiled gently. After she had finished giving the greedy dogs their treats she brushed her hands together.

"Come, sit down and I will get your tea old man." Sakura smiled more widely as she turned again to face the now boiling kettle. Kakashi watched his dogs settle around the room as moved to sit at the kitchen table while he waited.

"You know if you keep giving the dogs treats they will get fat." Kakashi remarked whist resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

Sakura huffed out of her nose. "Yeah right with all the work you get them to do a few treats isn't going to make them gain weight. And besides, I only do it so they will like me better." Sakura looked over her shoulder and winked at him. Kakashi swore his heart rate increased. He looked down at the table to hide the slight reddening of his cheeks. He must be over tired if a simple wink was getting to him like that.

Kakashi heard a small thump as a mug of steaming green tea was placed in front of his hands. "Right I made your tea now how did you get hurt this time?" Sakura sat opposite him at her small round kitchen table. She wriggled to get comfortable by folding one of her slender legs underneath herself.

"Ah well you see a well a wild-"

Kakashi was cut off by a small hand covering his mouth, "I want none of you fantastical lies Kakashi." The woman chuckled lightly and removed her hand to take a sip of her tea.

The silver haired ninja held his hands up in defeat. "Fine, fine but just so you know that story would have been far more interesting." Sakura smirked over her drink but indicated for in to continue.

Kakashi raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. "Genma was an idiot, he was racing ahead because we were getting much closer to the village but he forgot about the traps set up for invading ninjas. It was a simple kunai trap but I only got to him in time to push him out the way and the blade got me instead. I am much slower than I used to be. He may say his favourite phrase is 'No words, but action' but it should really be 'no thinking, but action." Kakashi sighed as the pink haired woman laughed lightly.

"You are right I am sure the other story would have been much more interesting. Was the mission a success though? I mean you were gone 4 weeks." Sakura mouth straightened into a tighter line than her usual easy smile. She didn't like any of her boys to be out on missions no matter the rank.

Kakashi thought back to his very boring diplomatic mission to Suna. The only reason he and Genma were out there was because they were organising the upcoming Chunin exams. Diplomatic missions really did not compare to the missions in his past.

"Piece of cake." Kakashi replied along with his infamous smile completed with eye crinkle.

Sakura smiled as she finished her tea. "Good. I am glad you are back home. However I am going to be mad if you don't actually drink that tea." She pointed a slender finger at his still untouched beverage.

Not wanting to anger her, Kakashi placed his index finger under the edge of his mask and tugged down. He couldn't help but smirk. Ever after years of knowing what he looked like under the mask Sakura still couldn't help but stare.

Kakashi was well aware the effect he had on women, and some men, but it was amusing to watch Sakura get ever so slightly flustered every time he removed his mask.

The pinkette only watched as her companion downed his tea in one and then slowly replaced his mask. "Are you ever going to tell me why you wear that mask?" She asked timidly.

"Maybe one day, but again, it is not a particularly exciting tale." Kakashi didn't look at the woman as he said this. Instead he chose to look at the wall clock that hung besides Sakura's kitchen window.

5:32am… He might as well say up he thought. "Have you got work today?" he asked, most days she was busy at the hospital working alongside Tsunade but on the rare chance she was free he wouldn't mind spending the day with her.

"I have to be at the hospital at seven but I finish as five today, why you want to do something?" Sakura looked over her shoulder at him from where she stood at the sink rinsing the glasses she had removed from the table.

"I was thinking we haven't trained properly in a while." Kakashi leaned back on his chair and brought his prized Icha Icha out of his pocket. He flicked open the book to a page he was sure he had read over a hundred times but really it didn't matter he wasn't reading it anyway. It was a way to appear nonchalant like he didn't really care.

"I mean I know I am free but Naruto isn't, he had a meeting with the Hyuga clan elders something about his relationship with Hinata. Also both Sai and Yamato are out on ANBU missions so won't be available." Sakura had turned now. Her back was against the kitchen counter with both her palms resting upon it. It gave Kakashi a rather wonderful view of her full chest and toned stomach.

"I mean we can train together just us if you want, we don't have to wait for the rest of Team Seven." Again Kakashi used the book to pretend that he didn't really mind either way as he brought it up slightly closer to his nose.

While Kakashi did enjoy training with the rest of his team they were not the company that he desired. The company he really wanted came in the form of the petite woman standing in front of him.

Sakura pulled one of her hands away from the counter and wrapped it loosely around her middle. "Yeah that sounds good, with all my rounds and the boys being busy I haven't had much time to train." She smilled brightly at the man and looked at the clock on her wall.

"I am going to stay up and get ready for work but I really think you should go home and rest for a bit Kakashi. I know I have healed you already but sleep always helps. How about we meet at training ground three at 5:30. That should give me enough time to get sorted and you enough time to get some sleep." Kakashi nodded in agreement

….

Through working with the general populace of the leaf village Sakura had discovered something, most people were idiots. If it wasn't the Hokage getting hit by a stray kunai it was purple bruising on a man's face from a testosterone fuelled fight. And then there was always, without fail, someone who refused their medicine because 'they knew better'. It was always interesting when Sakura had to do general rounds, general rounds was something which she liked to try and do frequently. It was because she really enjoyed doing it, even if it was a constant battle. She loved that you never knew who was going to come in or what problem she would have to solve next. It put her hard earned knowledge to the test and Sakura thrived on it.

But although she tried to do general rounds as much as she could it was more likely that her days would actually be filled with boring paperwork and dull meetings. When Tsunade retired it was left to Sakura and Shizune to co-direct the hospital together something that they were more than happy to do. While Sakura was focused on the Ninja aspect of the hospital Shizune dealt with the more civilian problems. Together they made an excellent team. In the last 3 years of their leadership field mission deaths were down 8% and hospital deaths were down 14%. Sakura saw it as a huge achievement but there was always room to do better.

Finishing with her last patient of the day Sakura headed back up to her office. She had been covering Shizune's civilian rounds because Sakura had promised Shizune she could have the day off to see her fiancé who had just returned from a mission. The same mission Kakashi had been on. Sakura smiled as she thought of Shizune and Genma together. They made such a good match, no one had really thought that Genma would ever settle down but somehow Shizune had managed it. And after a year of dating Genma had finally popped the question. It was now only a month until they were getting married.

Sakura exhaled deeply as she sunk down into her big and comfy office chair. It was the one luxury in the room. She had wanted the comfiest chair she could find to combat against the pain of standing for hours on end in the hospital. Sakura curled up on the chair with one foot folded underneath herself trying to get as comfortable as possible.

As she skimmed though some of the documents that rested on her desk she thought briefly about her own love life. Or what little there was of it.

In the past Sakura had partaken in a few drunken one night stands and an attempted relationship with Kiba but neither of those things had lasted too long. While the sex had been good with Kiba both of them had realised that they were really only just friends and that it wasn't going to go any further. That was a few years ago now and Kiba had found his happiness in a sweet civilian girl that Hinata introduced him too.

Sakura felt that neither dating nor one night stands suited her at the moment. She was perfectly happy in being with just herself for now.

In the corner of her eye Sakura spotted the Team 7 picture she always kept on her desk. A piercing set of onyx eyes met hers from the frame and the owner of those eyes invaded her thoughts.

After the war both she and Sasuke had talked about being with one another. Sakura would never deny that she would always love Sasuke, and not just in friendly way, but the little affection he could return to her would never be enough. They had been through far too much. However while Sasuke had stayed in the village before he went out on his now everlasting mission they had spent a lot of time together. This lead to the two of them sleeping together but Sakura would never regret losing her virginity to Sasuke. He was her first love and a real friend. Sakura just felt it wasn't meant to go any further than that. From time to time Sasuke would send his update letters to Kakashi and both she and Naruto would get a small mention but it never really went past that but it was enough to keep Sakura content. She was happy knowing that while they would always be close he was serving the village in his own way, at a distance, a way that would never satisfy herself. Sakura would never want to leave the village that meant so much to her, she could never sever the bonds that she had formed with her friends.

No, Sakura was happy not dating at the moment. She was too busy with the hospital and keeping a close eye on the Hokage which was nearly a full time job in its self.

Sakura had almost become an assistant to Kakashi, after being tutored by the last Hokage she had picked up a lot of useful information and skills that benefited Kakashi greatly. And Sakura was more than willing to help her old Sensei if it meant that he looked after himself a bit better.

Whilst becoming the Hokage was never a dream that Kakashi had, he did make a very good one. But as a result he was exhausting himself. Sakura on many occasions had found Kakashi collapsed on a pile of papers in his own office.

She supposed that was when she had decided, by the fifth time finding him half dead, that she would make sure he actually looked after himself. She now regularly brought fresh groceries to his apartment and dragged him out for a meal or two. These meals had become so regular that Kakashi now sometimes even paid, not that she would tell Naruto that.

The pink haired ninja found that over time that she started to enjoy her time with Kakashi more and more. What had first been friendly concern for his health had turned into her actively seeking out his company when she was bored. They were good together, just content to be in each other's presence. On many occasions they found themselves crashed at one of each other's apartments talking to each other way into the small hours of the morning. It was from these conversations that Sakura realised that Kakakshi was probably her closest friend. Something which astounded her. How did her old, perverted Sensei become her best friend? But it was simple really. Kakashi really wasn't that old, his books showed he was really just a romantic with a slightly naughty side and he was never really much of a sensei to her. He laughed at her stupid jokes and told some in return. He comforted her when there was a patient she couldn't save. And they enjoyed making discreet silly faces at one another in meetings, something which he was better at because of the mask.

"Yo." Speak of the devil Sakura thought to herself. The pinkette looked up from her paper filled lap to see the man in question standing in front of her desk, around him she saw the last remnants of the smoke from the teleportation jutsu he has just used.

The woman raised a slender eyebrow, "What are you doing here?" she questioned.

Kakashi raised a hand to rub the back of his head. "Well I knew you would still be here so I thought we would walk down to the training ground together?"

'Together' that was a world she that heard a lot in conjunction to her a Kakashi recently. It wasn't until Ino pointed it out to her on one of their semi-regular coffee dates that normally that you were more likely to see Sakura and Kakashi together than apart. Sakura hadn't really thought of it before her blonde friend had pointed it out. They did spend a huge amount of time together. Did people think that was weird? The pinkette didn't think it was strange. Most of Sakura's friends were usually busy and Kakashi was there for whenever she needed company.

"Hey, you alright?" Kakashi looked at her with his head cocked to one side. Sakura realised that she hadn't replied to the man, she lifted her hands from the papers and rubbed them over her eyes in an effort to focus better on the ninja in front of her.

She coughed into her hand, "Yes, sorry. I didn't realise the time, lets walk down together." Sakura rose from her chair and pulled her doctors coat off. She placed it over the arm rest of her chair. Underneath her doctors coat she was wearing her normal ninja clothes which consisted of a tight black top and a pink skirt and short combination which was not too dissimilar to the one that she wore before the war.

She stretched up to crack her joints and out of the corner of her eye she saw Kakashi look away from her direction. His gaze had snapped sharply to the open window. "What you looking it at?"

Kakashi looked a little flustered. "Oh nothing thought there was some kind of rare bird."

Sakura pursed her lips together as she grabbed her shinobi gloves out of her desk. "Right." She replied.

Kakashi nodded and started to lead the way out of the room. "Let's go then."

…..

Pakkun was right, he wasn't very discreet at all. Kakashi couldn't believe that the only excuse he could think of was some garbage about a 'rare bird'. In reality Kakashi had averted his gaze because of the exposed midriff that Sakura had inadvertently shown him. The creamy pale skin that peered out from just about the waist band of her short little skirt was extremely distracting.

Kakashi had long come to terms with that fact he was attracted to Sakura. But he was sure that most of the male population of the leaf village also had to deal with this fact. She was gorgeous, young and extremely healthy, even by shinobi standards. Her gorgeous body paired with her dry wit and intelligence made Kakashi weak at the knees. But Kakashi knew where to draw the line, even though he would not think twice about taking her to bed he doubted that he was a very appealing partner to the woman seeing as he was 14 years her senior.

But Kakashi couldn't help but become distracted by the growing attraction he felt to Sakura, especially as she laid on his back as he did press ups as a warm up. They were in the middle of training ground 3 so it was perfectly innocent but it did not feel innocent to Kakashi. He tried as hard as he could to not concentrate on the feeling of Sakura's breasts pressed against his back just below his shoulder blades. He felt every inch of her body against him and it made him falter on a few of his press ups as the thought of her body made his arms feel weaker.

They did this often when warming up for a training session, Kakashi couldn't remember when they had first done it, but it was like a sweet torture for Kakashi. Feeling her against him knowing that he wouldn't ever get to touch her properly.

"10 more to do." Sakura's sweet voice came from right beside his left ear and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end. Kakashi could only hum in response. The male ninja sped through the final press ups as Sakura played with the hair at the nape of his neck distracting him further.

To signal to Sakura that he was all done, Kakashi laid down after his final press up so that his chest rested on the soft earth. "Off you get then." As he said this Kakashi realised he didn't really want his exercise to be over. Taking his cue, Sakura rolled off of him and stood up next to him. Kakashi looked up to see her hand stretched out for his own. With all the pent up tension Kakashi felt in his body he doubted that clenching Sakura's hand would help the situation. Avoiding her graze he pushed himself up on his own and took a step back from her. He tried to ignore the slightly hurt look on her face.

"I was thinking we could do a variation on the bell test today." Sakura cocked her head to the side waiting for him to continue. "Okay well, since I have the two bells the idea is that we have one each, therefore you have to both defend and try and attain the other bell." Kakashi reached into his trouser pocket and presented the two bells.

Sakura started to pull on her shinobi gloves. "Sounds like a plan. I feel like we should set a time limit though"

"2 hours should do it.

….

Two hours was far too long in Sakura's opinion. She was exhausted. They were nearing the final 5 minutes of their training session and each of them had only got to the others ninja's bell a hand full of times.

But it was times like these when Sakura truly felt proud of her fighting skills. She remembered as a girl being astounded at Kakashi's skills, feeling like she would never be on that level. But here she was fighting him off with relative ease. She really was on his level now, her ANBU skills being tested to the limits.

Unfortunately she did not think she was going to beat Kakashi today, he had been getting far too close to grabbing her bell to think otherwise. But she couldn't be too annoyed, he hadn't been working all day at the hospital beforehand so she had that excuse at least.

As Sakura crouched behind a piece of rubble she had dislodged from the earth earlier, her jade eyes scanned the nearby area waiting for the distinct silver locks to appear. She loved those unruly locks for multiple reasons but she couldn't deny that the main reason was the fact it made it far easier to spot him. Whether that be in a large crowd or a seemingly deserted training ground.

Sakura let out a huge sigh, she was bored of this now. All she wanted to do was go eat somewhere and then collapse in bed. Enough was enough. In one fluid movement Sakura bit her thumb and slammed her hand down onto the damp earth.

"What's up little lady?" Where Sakura's blood had just touched the ground a small pug had appeared.

Sakura crossed her arms tightly across her chest. "I need your help, I am stuck in a boring game of hide and seek with your so called 'master'. Can you lead me to him please, in return you can sleep on my bed tonight?"

Pukkun's eyes brighten at the prospect of a comfy bed as he stood to walk to Sakura's heel. "Sure, no problem, but could you also give me one of those head massages too?"

The pinkette barked out a laugh. "Sure."

It didn't take long for the duo to find the silver haired ninja, and as per usual he was perched in a tree with his trusty Icha Icha out.

Without so much as looking up from his book he addressed the pug. "Pakkun, I've decided, you are a traitor."

"Sorry but not sorry boss, I'm getting a head massage later. See ya." With those parting words Pakkun disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura glared up at her old sensei, her eye brow twitching. "Aren't we supposed to be training? What do you think you are doing?!" With every word her voice grew louder and louder.

Hearing the strain in Sakura's voice, Kakashi finally put down his precious book to look at her. "Well you see… I knew that you would come find me eventually."

"You are unbelievable." Without warning the tree that Kakashi had been lounging on splinted into a thousand pieces as Sakura unleashed her ungodly strength on it.

She was frustrated to see, however, that Kakashi had managed to gracefully land on his feet.

She rolled her eyes as she placed her hands on her hips. "You are so annoying."

Without wasting anytime Sakura charged her old Sensei, fist raised. To her annoyance Kakashi dodged it with ease but Sakura noted that her fist grazed the edge of his silver hair.

In a shower of fists the two ninja battled for dominance. They flipped and danced around one another, bending in impossible ways trying to reach for the bells.

However in a sudden burst of speed the Hokage was behind her, unbearably close to her back. Unfortunately as well as the toned body of a man pressed against her, Sakura also felt the cool steel of a kunai against her throat.

"Checkmate."

Sakura felt Kakashi's mask brush against her ear as he spoke to her in a deep tone. With his left hand Kakashi reached around her middle to take the bell out of her waist band and as if to mock her he dangled the bell in front of her face.

"Think again old man." With this Sakura pulled out her hand which was previously stuck between her and the Hokage. The pinkette opened her palm to reveal Kakashi's own bell.

The silver haired man chuckled. "Call it a draw?"

Sakura whirled around to face him, "No way! I won fair… and… square…" Sakura felt her anger drain with every word. She struggled to get out her words found herself impossibly close to her former Sensei, her chest almost pressed against his and her eyes level with his cloth covered chin.

Kakashi peered down at her. "Really? You won?" He leaned down so his mouth was level with her ear. "I don't think you are in any position to claim that."

With that Kakashi took a step back. "See you around Sakura-Chan." A second later he had formed the correct seal and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura was left with her heart beating fast and her chest heaving. Her small hand clutching the bell.


	2. Chapter 2

"Kakashi-Sensei? Are you even listening to me?" The man in question peered sideways at the blond who was moaning at him. Kakashi sighed and took a deep drink of his warm sake. Placing his cup back on the counter, He turned his upper body sideways to face the man.

"Sorry Naruto, what were you saying?"

"You really need to start listening better. Anyway. I was asking your opinion on whether I should propose to Hinata or not. Her family are pressuring her to get married but I don't know if I am ready. I mean, am I even old enough to be a husband? Is it legal? I mean I am only 23. It's all so confusing Kakashi-Sensei. What do you think?" Naruto spoke to the older man at a pace that Kakashi used to think was impossible.

* * *

Kakashi wasn't sure how he ended up sitting in a bar with Naruto in the first place. It had now been a week since he returned from his mission to Suna so it was back to work as normal. Hence his day had been filled with meetings, paper work and mentoring Naruto to take over his position. After the long day's work Naruto had suggested getting a few drinks and since Kakashi had not socialised properly since training with Sakura he felt as though he should accept. Kakashi also couldn't deny that he wanted to have drink to numb the confusion be had been feeling all week.

Pink. That was all he could think about. Pink hair, pink flushed cheeks, pink lips you name it he had thought of it. Sakura had been plaguing his mind all week. It was starting to drive him crazy.

Kakashi wasn't sure what to do. If he was being honest, every time he had got this attracted by a woman he would normally just sleep with her to get over it. However Kakashi didn't think that his normal rules applied here. For one he didn't think Sakura was a one night stand sort of person and secondly he didn't think she would agree to sleep with him just so he could get over his attraction to her. He felt as though he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand he could lose his friendship with Sakura if he slept with her and on the other he would forever be sexually frustrated by her. But the more pressing matter at hand was that he was her ex-teacher, she wouldn't see him that way even if Kakashi wanted to take things further. No. He was content to try and keep his distance for now.

"Kakashi-sensei! You aren't even trying to pay attention." Naruto whined, to punctuate his annoyance he folded his arms across his chest and pushed out his bottom lip in a pout.

Kakashi sighed once again. "Frankly Naruto I don't really see what your problem is."

"What do you mean?" The blond looked at Kakashi as though he was talking a different language.

"Well…" Kakashi said as he poured himself another cup of Sake. "Do you love Hinata?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically "Of course."

"And do you want to be with anyone else?"

"NO! Why would you even ask that?" Naruto furrowed his brow at Kakashi, wondering where the conversation was going.

"Just bear with me Naruto. And finally do you plan on marrying her at some point in the future?" Kakashi lifted his sake to his covered lips.

Naruto thought for a moment, staring at his hands. After a moment he replied.

"Yeah, I do."

Kakashi nodded once. "Then what's the problem. Propose to her. You don't have to get married right away and you also don't have to start trying for mini Narutos right this second. If you were going to propose to her eventually, why not now?"

The blonde's face lit up into a huge grin, all the pieces falling into place in his head. "You are right, thanks Kakashi-Sensei."

Kakashi smiled at his old student and tipped his glass in Naruto's direction. "Always am."

One moment Naruto's full attention was on Kakashi, the next his megawatt smile was shining in a different direction, the doorway to be exact. However Kakashi didn't need to turn to see who had just arrived in the bar. The second she had walked in he had felt it. He could smell her jasmine sent in the air and could feel her warm presence fill the room. It was Sakura, his little problem.

"SAKURA-CHAN! Sakura-Chan over here!" Naruto stood up from his seat and was waved his arms wildly above his head. Kakashi turned just in time to see Sakura return a small wave to Naruto and turn to say something to her companions Ino and Hinata. He wished he knew what she was saying over the sound of the bar. In any case the pinkette was now making her way over towards Kakashi and Naruto, leaving her friends to find a table to sit at.

Sakura came to stand in front of the hyperactive blonde, she grinned at him as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Hi Naruto, had a few drinks I see?" Kakashi noted that she didn't even glance in his direction.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head with his hand and his face took on a slight flush. "Yeah just a few, talking about some things with Kakashi-Sensei."

Sakura finally glanced over to Kakashi with an overly polite smile. Kakashi's heart dropped into his stomach, he was confused as to why she was acting like this with him. Normally her smile would be just as bright for him as for Naruto, she was acting strangely towards him.

"Is that so?" She said "Well anyway I thought I would just come over to say hello, I need to get back to Ino and Hinata. We are having a girl's night out with Shizune and she should be showing up in a bit." Sakura turned around to leave but twisted as she walked away to wave goodbye.

"Have a nice night Sakura-Chan." Naruto plopped himself back down onto his chair but sat with his back resting on the edge of the bar, using it to lean against. Kakashi copied the same pose after finishing the last of his sake.

As he was surveying the bar he saw Shizune walk in and make a bee line towards Sakura. He supposed they must be having a night out to celebrate before the big wedding. It was only a handful of weeks until the big day now.

Kakashi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as he thought about the wedding, he had always known that it was likely he was never going to get married but he had counted on Genma being single with him. Forever a bachelor. But that was no longer going to be the case. Instead he now only had the delights of Gai's company on nights out and Kakashi never really enjoyed it when Gai took it upon himself to act as a wing man.

As the night progressed both he and Naruto were joined by a selection of other jounin, including Kiba and Lee. Kakashi felt rather out of place seeing as the ninja he was surrounded by with were 14 years his junior. However Kakashi found that he enjoyed their company, they were chatty and friendly and he was satisfied to just listen to their wild stories.

Unfortunately while Kakashi tried to concentrate on the stories his companions were telling his eyes kept being drawn back to Sakura. She was also laughing and joking with her own friends. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the alcohol she had consumed and her arms were waving wildly to accompany the story she was telling. The story must have been at Shizune's expense as the raven haired woman was hanging her head on the table. Kakashi noted, however, that Shizune was also laughing at the story which was evident by the small shaking of her shoulders.

The bar was slowly becoming much quieter and before Kakashi realised the time the bar man was calling for last orders. The Hokage watched as Sakura rose from her chair and asked each of the women she was with what drink they would like. Once she knew what to order the pinkette made her way to the bar. However Kakashi noted that she had gone to the opposite end of the bar to where he was.

Disheartened Kakashi looked away from Sakura and stared down at his hands. What had he done to annoy her? The only thing he could think of was not conceding the win to Sakura in their training match. However Kakashi highly doubted she was angry about that.

If Kakashi was honest he missed her, he missed their regular lunch meals and their long conversations. He missed her companionship and it had only been a week.

Kakashi's ears perked up as he heard the loud Naruto start to speak.

"Hey, Kiba, do you know the guy Sakura-Chan is talking to?" Kakashi followed Naruto's gaze to where a tall brunette man was leaning on the bar next to Sakura.

Kiba scrutinised the man, scrunching his eyes to make his drunk brain think more clearly. "Oh, yeah I do know him. He would always flirt with Sakura when I was with her. He works at the hospital I think. His name is Sora if I remember right."

Naruto looked rather concerned for his female team mate. "Should we go over there?"

Kakashi watched as he brunette man moved closer to Sakura bending down to virtually whisper in her ear. It took all of Kakashi's will power not to go over there and tell him to back off. His hands bit into the bar, his short finger nails leaving crescent shapes in the soft wood.

Kiba snorted a laugh into his glass. "Narh, don't worry about it. She would always brush him off and say that he was a creep. She can look after herself." Kiba finished his sentence by downing the last of his drink.

Naruto furrowed his brows together. "If you are sure…" However the blond did not look too convinced and if Kakashi was honest he was not convinced either. Sakura was single now compared to when Kiba was talking about. Plus Sakura was an attractive girl, she could have any guy that she wanted. Kakashi suddenly realised that he was more concerned about he actually wanting to go home with him than him harassing her. That was something he definitely would be keeping to himself.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?!"

Kakashi's head snapped from looking at Naruto to over where Sakura was. She had the much taller man held up by the front of his shirt and pushed against the nearest wall. "Did I say that you could touch me?"

Kiba was right, Kakashi should not have been worried. The man named Sora looked terrified, his face turning bright red from embarrassment. Kakashi straightened up on his seat to better watch the events that were unfolding. Slowly Sakura let the man down but pushed him away from her with nearly enough force to knock him over. Sakura, obviously thinking she had made her point, turned back to the bar collected her drinks and made her way over to her friends. Her companions were laughing with varying degree at the man's expense.

Feeling as though he had been embarrassed enough the man named Sora brushed himself down and strode with purpose towards the door of the bar, in doing so he walked straight past Kakashi.

That was when he made his final mistake. Under his breathe he muttered something which boiled Kakashi straight to the core.

"Fucking bitch."

Before even thinking of what he was doing, Kakashi was up off his seat and in one lightning fast move he had Sora pushed up against the wall with his forearm braced against the man's neck.

"What did you say?" The bar had gone silent, listening, as Kakashi's words dripped with venom.

Sora spluttered for words. "What are you talking about? Get off me!"

Kakashi's dark grey eyes bore holes in the man in front of him.

"Wrong answer." Before the brunette could react Kakashi's fist found his face and a crack was heard as a nose was broken.

Kakashi drew his fist back but before he could drive it into the man's face a second time he felt a small hot hand on his forearm. "-Kashi. Don't it's not worth it." Kakashi looked down to the pink haired woman who had appeared at his side, her eyes were wide and her face flushed pink. He loved that shade of pink.

Snapping out of his anger Kakashi released the man. "Get out." Without Kakashi even having to look at him, Sora clutched at his broken nose and scrambled to get out of the door as fast as he could.

Sakura used the hand she still had on Kakashi's forearm to guide him out of the bar as well. "Time to go I think Kakashi." Not wanting to cause more of scene Kakashi allowed himself to be taken away from the now silent bar. He saw from the corner of his eye that Naruto and the others looked rather shocked but he couldn't find it within himself to care.

After they had walked a few streets down from the bar Sakura pulled him aside harshly. "Do you mind telling me why you just did that?" She looked angry, her eyes were ablaze and her hands made exaggerated gestures by her sides.

Kakashi shrugged, however he soon realised that was the wrong response. She looked even angrier.

"Don't you shrug at me. I had that all covered back there and then you have to go make it even worse. I still have to work with him you know and now he is going to think I get special treatment from the Hokage!" Kakashi could only stand there as she punctuated each of her words with a rather sharp jab of her finger into his chest.

Kakashi sighed and grabbed her hand before she could poke him again. He held her small hand in both of his and cradled it against his chest. "I am not going to let a friend be spoken about like that. No matter if I am the Hokage or not." Sakura's eyes widened and then softened in response, the jade orbs looking straight at him.

Before Kakashi could respond Sakura pulled her hand out his grip and wrapped both arms around his middle, squeezing tightly. Sakura's pink covered head was buried into his chest which only helped to muffle her speech. "You are impossible."

The silver haired man stared down at the pinkette with a small smile hiding under his mask. Unfortunately before Kakashi had thought to return the hug Sakura had pulled away and had taken a step back. As she stepped away from him she nervously tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear.

Sakura coughed lightly into her fist to break the silence between them. "I think I should probably head home after all that."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head and smiled at his friend. "Sure, want me to walk you home?" Even as Kakashi asked the question he knew what the answer would be.

"Oh- no it's fine. I'll be alright." There it was, the refusal he had been expecting, he told himself it was fine but inside he was disappointed.

In response Kakashi gestured a hand in the direction of Sakura's home. "Of course. Night then Sakura."

The pinkette nodded and turned to walk down the road, Kakashi allowed his eyes to follow her.

"Hey Sakura, one last thing?" The pink haired medic stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. He couldn't help himself, after the cold way she had been acting around him, he needed to know.

"Are we okay?" It was a silly question, a childish question but it was a question that had been burning his tongue all evening.

Sakura's face played a huge number of emotions seemingly all at once. They ranged from shock, to confusion to guilt. But finally her face softened into a sweet smile. "Yeah, sorry I have been acting weird. But yeah we are good Kakashi."

Relief, relief spread throughout Kakashi's body, that had been the answer he had hoped for. Maybe she had just had a stressful day. Whatever it was, she now knew he had noticed. "Well if that was all Kakashi?" Sakura cocked her head slightly to the side, waiting for a response.

"Yeah that was it, night Sakura." Kakashi stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned around abruptly to leave, a private smile spreading under his mask.

"Good night then." He heard her whisper, her footsteps carried her off away from him.

…..

Sakura liked weddings. They didn't happen often so when they did Sakura wanted to make sure that she enjoyed herself. However at this moment she couldn't really muster any enthusiasm, the reason for that was the fact she was stuck in a dress shop with loud friends and over baring shop keepers. Sakura had promised the night previous that she would join Ino, Shizune and Hinata while they shopped for dresses. However she was now regretting that promise. She didn't even really need to be out shopping. She had already bought her dress for the wedding weeks ago with Shizune.

Unfortunately Sakura had not planned for a terrible night sleep when she said that she would go with them. She had tossed and turned all night wishing that sleep would take her but it never did. While she had laid there in the darkness her mind played over what had happened in the bar. Sakura knew that all her boys where protective of her, and she would have expected that behaviour from Naruto, but what Kakashi did was out of sorts. She had rarely seen him so angry and the speed he had used rivalled that which she had seen from him on the battle field.

Plus to top it off, it was all over a silly comment the idiot Sora had made, it wasn't worth it in her opinion. She had already embarrassed Sora enough and Kakashi had to go make a scene. However when Sakura thought of what Kakashi had said afterwards it made her heart melt. He had called her a friend. Not 'comrade' or 'team-mate'. She didn't think Kakashi had many people he called friends, so to make it to that elite group of people made her immeasurably happy.

Sakura didn't think she deserved the way Kakashi had stood up for her, she had been treating him coldly all night but as soon as her feelings were at risk of being hurt he was there for her. She knew it was silly now but at the time she had thought it would be the best way to act around him.

Sakura had come to realise, after their little training exercise, that she was immensely attracted to her old teacher. Assuming placing some distance between them would help to cool things down Sakura had been cold towards him but Kakashi had only seemed hurt by her actions.

"Are we okay?" He had asked her. A question that she hadn't planned on, as it meant that he had noticed that something between them had changed. The only reason that she wanted things to cool down between them was because she didn't want him to know that she was so attracted to him. Surely that would ruin their friendship.

But the only thing her being cold had caused was that he had noticed that something had changed. This meant that she was just going to have to deal with being so physically drawn to Kakashi and act like she had done before.

Sakura sighed, how could she pretend that she wasn't turned on by Kakashi when the mere sight of him would make her heart race and her cheeks burn? She was ashamed to admit that even the sight of him pinning the helpless Sora against the wall of the bar had make her knees a little weak, a stupid cavewoman mentality that should have been lost long ago.

She was just going to have to deal with it for the sake of their friendship. She just hoped that he wouldn't find out before her silly school girl crush faded like the others before it.

Sakura looked up, coming out of her thoughts, to see Ino twirling in a beautiful pale blue dress. The sleeves of her dress clung tight to her arms and stopped at her elbows, a square neck line showed just enough cleavage to be interesting and the floaty hem hung down to her knees. "Oohhh I love it! What do you think Shizune?" She cooed in delight.

The black haired woman smiled at the enthusiastic blonde and brought two thumbs up into the air. "I think that's the one."

With the approval of the bride given, Ino squealed and spun once more for good measure. "Yay, I'll go get changed and then we can go for lunch." She flung herself into the changing room and pulled the curtains together in a harsh tug.

Shizune flopped herself down next to Sakura and sighed. "I am glad you three have all found dresses now, you are all going to look so good. Don't tell Ino but I think your dress is still my favourite though." Shizune smiled at Sakura. Sakura's dress was her own favourite as well, but she didn't think that was very surprising.

She liked to think that it suited her well and Sakura hoped it would bring out the colour of her eyes. The dress was a green colour, not too dissimilar to the colour of Kakashi's old flak jacket, and it was lace all over. The cream slip, which she would wear underneath, would appear through it but it only added to the effect. Although the dress went past her knees Sakura would admit that it didn't leave much to the imagination. The dress clung to her in all the right places and a slight plunging neck line showed of her chest in a tantalising way.

If she was honest, at first, she didn't know why she had chosen such a suggestive dress but as she thought about it Sakura realised that she wanted to impress someone. When she had delved deeper into her reasoning she had discovered that this 'someone' was Kakashi. Even though Sakura had been working hard to cool things down between them, she didn't think attempting to make Kakashi see as a woman was such a bad thing.

If Sakura was honest with herself she didn't know what she wanted from Kakashi, on the one side she wanted this attraction to go away so she didn't have to deal with it but on the other she wanted it to go further. A small part of Sakura wanted to see where it would go and what it would lead to. Really at the moment though that was just wishful thinking, Sakura did not want to risk any chance of hurting the friendship they had built together.

While he had away on his diplomatic mission Sakura had missed him, he was normally always there for her so it was hard not to notice when he was gone. No. She wouldn't risk feeling as though he was missing from her life permanently. She would have to suffer in silence for now, and by suffer she meant slowly melt in to a hot mess whenever he was around.

Ino excited the changing room and grabbed her bag off the floor which was by Sakura's feet. "Ready to go then?" Without waiting for a reply she bounded off towards a staff member to pay for her new dress. Not feeling the need to move with quite so much excitement Sakura fell into a much slower pace besides Hinata.

Sakura peaked a side-ward glace at the long haired woman and Sakura was overcome with a resoundingly jealous feeling. Hinata had it all figured out, well at least in Sakura's eyes. She was an heir to an important and powerful clan, she knew were her future was taking her and she was in love. Hinata had been in love for as long as Sakura could remember and that made Naruto an extremely lucky man in her opinion. Sakura hoped that he how lucky he truly was. Hinata had it all figured out while Sakura on the other hand definitely did not.

Come to think of it Sakura noted that all the woman she was with today had significant others. Not that having a man meant that everything in life was going to be okay, quite the opposite in fact, but she imagined that it made life slightly less lonely. Shizune was about to get married to the love of her life, Genma, Hinata had Naruto wrapped around her little finger and Ino had Sai. Although Sakura still was not sure how a relationship between the very boisterous Ino and the sullen Sai could ever possibly work.

No Sakura most certainly did not have love in her life, not in the sense of romance anyway. Of course she had people she loved and would die for but Sakura didn't have someone that she would live for and be with for the rest of her days.

She doubted even her crush on Kakashi could sprout into spending her life with him. No all she felt for him was purely friendship… a sexually charged friendship, but a friendship none the same.

There was no romantic love in her life at the moment and she couldn't really see that changing any time soon. Sakura was content with that though, she needed to learn to live without being in love with someone. For nearly half her life she as infatuated with Sasuke and then for a time she tried her hardest to fall in love with Kiba, but neither of them worked particularly well for her. It was time to be without love for a while.

A soft tap on her shoulder brought Sakura abruptly out of her thoughts. "Sakura, are you okay? You seem pretty out of it?" The quiet Hinata started at her with concern in her eyes, she had obviously noticed that the pinkette wasn't paying much attention today.

Sakura put on her best smile in an attempt to put Hinata's worries to rest. "I am fine, I promise. I'm just really tired. Didn't sleep very well last night because of the alcohol." To be fair it wasn't a complete lie, Sakura had struggled to sleep the night before but she didn't really want to tell Hinata that the real reason was that she had been thinking about her ex-sensei all night. "To be honest Hinata I think I should probably head home now. Maybe get some rest." Sakura glanced quickly over to Ino and Shizune, if she ducked out now they wouldn't see her leave.

Hinata still looked concerned but her face softened slightly. "Okay, I will tell the other two that you headed home. Please take care of yourself Sakura."

Pulling her cheeks up into a tight smile, Sakura nodded sharply once at the woman and made a quick escape for her door. Once outside she had an over whelming urge to curl up into her soft bed and pass out for a few years, but the wind on her face on the way home kept her awake enough to make it back to her apartment without major incident.

Placing her key in the lock she twisted the stiff handle and pushed the door open. Once inside Sakura closed the wooden door behind her she leaned her back against it and pulled off her seemingly heavier than usual shoes. Chucking them to the side she dragged her feet against the floor as she made her way to the kitchen to make some tea.

But when she made it to her kitchen she finally noticed the presence of her uninvited guest. To be completely honest with herself the extra pair of shoes at the door should have been the first warning sign that someone else was in her apartment.

"Yo."

There he was, the object of her current fascination, the copy ninja. However in this moment he didn't really look much like a ninja. His mask was pulled down to hang loosely around his chin and there was a spoon hanging from his mouth. A bowl of cereal rested on the table in front of him and his ever present book rested open next to it. But however unattractive a spoon hanging from someones mouth should be it didn't stop Sakura's heart beating twice as fast as she looked at him. The sight of his face always did her in, and her true weakness came from the fact that the great Kakashi of the Sharingan had dimples. He had two dimples, one in each cheek and they made Sakura feel like a horny teenager. She never would have thought that dimples would be her downfall but Kakashi was proof of that fact. In addition to his 'oh so' attractive dimples the mask also usually covered a pair of slightly elongated and sharp canine teeth. She was ashamed to admit that she had experienced many a fantasy were he would use those teeth to mark various points on her body.

At the sight of the dimples and teeth, which now scraped against the spoon, Sakura felt her face flush. To try and hide the effect he was having on her, she turned abruptly towards her kettle, which conveniently placed her back towards him.

She shuffled almost sideways, kettle in hand, to the sink so she could place water in it without having to look at the man who was having such an effect on her. After pressing the button on the top of the kettle the lid popped open and Sakura proceeded to take in shallow sharp breaths to try and calm down. She was being irrational, all the man was doing was sitting there and she was acting like this.

"You know…" Sakura froze as she heard those words being whispered into her ear, she felt a masculine chest come to almost touch her back. "The whole 'filling of the kettle' works much better when you actually turn the tap on." A hand reached around her middle, so close it was almost touching her, to flick on the tap. The large hand then retreated back to its owner but not before brushing her waist lightly.

"Thanks." Sakura's voice almost squeaked as she answered back to Kakashi, who remained very close to her back. She felt almost trapped between Kakashi and the counter, but she realised a second later that she didn't really mind. His warm masculine sent wafted towards her and the arm that now had a hand resting on the counter next to her made her feel safe and comforted.

"I'm just gunna… make some tea…" Sakura then turned so that her body was side ways to Kakashi's in an attempt to make it obvious to him that she meant to escape from his presence. As much as she was enjoying all this, it was far too overwhelming for her. She had only just come to terms with the fact she needed to cool things off to preserve her friendship and now here she was getting incomprehensibly turned on by him.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kakashi's mouth pull up into a lopsided smirk, one that Sakura had always loved on him. He pulled his hands up beside his head, palms open, in a mock surrender. "Go ahead I won't stop you." She felt Kakashi's eyes follow her intently as she went to place the kettle back on its stand to start boiling the water. Sakura then rotated around to watch as Kakashi went to sit back down in his chair at the kitchen table. His eyes never left her as he started to spoon more, now soggy, cereal into his mouth. With every mouthful she saw a glimpse of his sharp teeth and his dimples flexed with his movements. He had to know what he was doing to her. She refused to believe that a genius like him couldn't figure it out, or maybe he was just messing with her.

The next thought that crossed her mind made her blood run cold and she brought her arms up to cross in front of her chest in an attempt to comfort herself. What if he could smell that she was turned on? She would never live it down if that were the case. She knew that he had a rather heighten sense of smell, one that rivalled Kiba's and Kiba could always tell if she was in the mood or not. Sakura felt horror creep through her at the thought of Kakashi being aware of the effect her was having on her. Suddenly the click of the kettle turning off brought her out of her nightmarish thoughts and she turned her back to Kakashi once more to reach into her top cupboard to retrieve a mug to use.

It was stupid but Sakura felt a tad bit safer with her back turned to Kakashi as there was no way he could see the red of her cheeks. While continuing to make her tea she decided it was about time to ask why exactly he was over her's in the first place.

"Is there any reason you are eating my food?" Sakura didn't even turn to look at him as she spoke.

A metal clang sounded through the room as Kakashi's spoon was placed into his now empty bowl. "I ran out of food. You haven't brought me any groceries this week." His voice was deadpan, testing for her reaction.

Bringing her cup of tea with her Sakura walked slowly to the kitchen table. "You know, I am not always going to be around to buy you food all the time." She exhaled into her mug. Sakura had it resting in both hands with her elbows placed on the table so that the mug was suspended in front of her face. She figured it was the best way to partially hide herself from him.

Kakashi smirked, his right dimple deepened slightly and one canine peaked out. "What do you mean you are not always going to be around? You planning on going somewhere?" the silver haired Hokage had his palms face down on the table slightly out stretched towards her.

Sakura laughed lightly. "I just mean that one day I am hopefully going to have a family of my own and I can't be looking after you as well, old man." Kakashi's eye brows pulled together for a fraction of a second, almost in what Sakura thought was disappointment. However the look he gave her didn't last long enough for Sakura to determine if he was actually disappointed at the thought of her having a family or not.

"You know as Hokage I could order you to look after me forever." Kakashi's smirk was back and it made Sakura feel much more at ease, even if she was still turned on by it.

The pinkette barked out a short laugh. "You won't be Hokage forever you know. But I guess for the time being I will try and look after you better. Anyway aren't you supposed to be doing your work as Hokage right now?" Sakura glanced up at her clock and noted that it was only just gone one in the afternoon.

Kakashi shrugged as if the answer was obvious. "I got bored and wanted to go for lunch."

Taking a deep sip of her tea Sakura looked up at the Hokage with a questioning gaze. "So out of all the places you could eat, you choose to have cereal in my apartment?"

"It was the closest." Sakura knew that wasn't true, she knew for a fact that Ichiraku Ramen was far closer to the Hokage's office but she wasn't about to tell him that.

Draining the last of her tea from her mug Sakura got up to go place it in the sink. Just like before she suddenly felt an arm reach around her and there was a clatter as the arm placed an empty bowl and spoon into the sink. Sakura whirled around to face Kakashi. He was too close, far too close. This wasn't what a normal friendship was supposed to be like. Sakura's back was flush against the counter and Kakashi's hips were almost grazing her own. The silver haired man slowly pulled his arm back from the sink letting it glide against Sakura's own arm.

"I should be heading off now."

After giving her one last torture inducing smirk, his demeanour suddenly changed and he pulled his mask up abruptly. After placing his mask on his face he brought his right hand up to ruffle Sakura's pink locks, as if it were a completely normal thing to do. He hadn't mussed her hair in years. Why now?

Before Sakura could even react properly Kakashi had made his way over to her door, put his shoes on and had left.

Sakura took a few seconds to allow her breathing to return to normal and to try and calm herself down further she placed a hand over her chest.

It wasn't until that evening when she went to go wash up her mug that she realised that the lazy old man had left her to clear up his bowl and spoon as well… but somehow she wasn't mad about it.


End file.
